ARTICLE 26 Alternative Proteins Magazine October 2024 Ÿnsect’s new mealworm-based wet pet food ingredient, WetPro15, is nutritionally excellent, environmentally sound, and functionally transparent for pet food manufacturers. These attributes will appeal to pet owners who are seeking quality alternatives to conventional ingredients — but the bottom line is, how will our cats and dogs respond to it? Here, we report the results of two new studies that reveal that including WetPro15 in the diet has no negative effect on palatability for pets, and no detrimental effects on faecal consistency in dogs. Insect protein is one of several novel protein sources that are raising interest among pet-owners who are seeking alternatives to conventional meat-based pet foods. This interest in alternatives is in part motivated by their perceived nutritional and environmental benefits. As recently reported in our previous article1, our ingredient, WetPro15, certainly meets these criteria: the mealworm pulp has a higher protein-to-fat ratio than proximate products such as MDMs; it is a natural source of linoleic and oleic acids; and its ileal and peptic digestibility are greater than 90%. From an environmental standpoint, its climate change contribution is equivalent to chicken MDM, and significantly lower than other meat-based protein sources. However, while pet-owners are increasingly evaluating products based on their nutritional and environmental profile, there are other factors that contribute to their choice of their pets’ diet. One of these is how much enjoyment the pet derives from its food: a recent study has reported that palatability is the fourth-most important aspect of a pet food (out of fourteen attributes surveyed) that pet-owners consider when choosing their companions’ diet2 and it is moreover considered an aspect of animal welfare, coming under Provision 5 which mandates for “positive mental experiences”3. Palatability, which encompasses visual, olfactory and textural cues in addition to taste per se, appears to be particularly important for cats, which show greater selectivity than dogs4. It is therefore important that any novel ingredient should undergo palatability trials. Here, we report on a preliminary trial conducted by an external partner that reveals that incorporating WetPro15 into a poultry-based paté does not diminish the palatability of the food. Another factor that is of particular concern to dog-owners is the digestibility of the food —specifically regarding how it affects dogs’ faecal characteristics. We have previously reported results of a safety trial of our dry pet food ingredient, Protein70, which showed that dogs’ stool quality scored an idePRELIMINARY TRIALS: MEALWORM PULP SHOWS POSITIVE PALATABILITY IN PETS Dr. Bénédicte Lorrette Animal Nutrition & Health R&D Director Ÿnsect
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